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This article is paywalled and this is all I got so far. But it looks like all the state unions are just a suss as most of us that the latest moves are simply a reverse takeover of one bankrupt body by another.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan says he will fight a move from six state unions to oust him after the disgruntled group confronted the embattled official and urged him to resign.
The chairs of the Queensland Rugby Union, ACT Rugby, Rugby WA, South Australia Rugby, Tasmania Rugby and Northern Territory Rugby jointly sent a letter of no confidence to McLennan on Friday, following a secret phone hook-up on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the RA chairman’s leadership following a disastrous year in rugby.
QRU chairman Brett Clark phoned McLennan on Friday afternoon to inform him of their collective stance, and urged the RA chairman to stand down.
Under the Rugby Australia constitution, voting members of the national union – the states and territories, the Super Rugby clubs and the Rugby Union Players Association – can call an extraordinary general meeting and remove a Rugby Australia director by a majority vote.
The signatories believe they have the numbers to force McLennan’s hand but their call for him to resign was rejected immediately, meaning they’ll have to call an EGM and vote on the matter. Two member unions can call an EGM and Rugby Australia then has 60 days to hold the meeting.
McLennan confirmed on Friday he had received a call from Clark but said he would not be standing down.
“This will be the defining moment for the battle of rugby. It’s all about money and control and we have been failing for years. We live in interesting times,” McLennan told this masthead.
“This is about principles. They are actually not putting the game first and its about self-interest and parochialism.”